One year after an investigation began into the city of Hugo’s water problems, the town is fighting with the state to get the help it was promised.

The Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality stepped in to investigate after residents complained that brown water started coming out of their faucets. The contracted company, Severn Trent, agreed to pay DEQ $25,000 in fines and $1 million to help Hugo and other small Oklahoma communities upgrade their water treatment facilities.

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The company paid the money, but Hugo has yet to receive a penny. City Manager David Rawls doesn’t expect to see a dime, although the city was counting on it to build a $10 million water plant.

“It will be more cost to the citizens of the community in order to achieve that, because the $930,000 will be required in the project cost,” Rawls said. “Because this money was generated from actions that occurred in Hugo and impacts the citizens of this community, we were counting on the ability to use that money to rectify the problems."

DEQ Deputy Executive Director Jimmy Givens said the money was intended to be used for Hugo and other communities, but it was not set in stone.

The budget shortfall forced legislators to pull some $4 million from DEQ’s budget, leaving the agency with few choices on what to do with the money.

“We have had to use that money from operational expenses instead of using it for Hugo and other smaller communities,” Givens said.

He said there are other funding mechanisms that can help small communities.

“After we get past the first quarter of the fiscal year, we have a better idea of what our financial situation looks like and whether we would have some additional money. At that point, what might go toward Hugo remains to be seen,” Givens said.

Rawls said the city approved a half-cent sales tax that will be redirected to help pay for the new water plant.

The water in Hugo is fine to drink, but the city wants the state to help it with a more permanent solution.